Texas Rangers - PlayerWatch

August 23, 2012|Reuters

1B Mitch Moreland hit a grand slam, which was officially the first of his career. But it wasn't the first one he's hit in a major league game. Moreland had a grand slam against Oakland in May 2011 washed out by an eventual rainout. His five RBI tied a career high set twice before in 2010 and 2011. Moreland is hitting .328 (.896 OPS) since returning from the DL on July 30.

RHP Yu Darvish will skip his scheduled start Thursday and will be moved back to Tuesday against Tampa to give the quadriceps muscle time to settle down. Darvish has had some issues with the quad over the course of the season but said something after it flared up during his bullpen workout on Tuesday. "He'll be ready for his next start," manager Ron Washington said of Darvish. "We just want to make sure." Washington added that the decision was a "no-brainer."

3B Adrian Beltre, who had just one homer and seven RBI in the previous 31 days, hit three homers and drove in five runs Wednesday.

LHP Derek Holland still doesn't have three consecutive quality starts this season, but he does have two in his last three outings. Holland went seven innings on Wednesday and held Baltimore to three runs on five hits. For the first time since his first start of the second half, Holland did not allow a home run. It ended his career-worst streak of six consecutive starts with at least one homer.

RHP Koji Uehara had no residual soreness after his one-inning outing at Triple-A Round Rock Tuesday. He will pitch again for Round Rock on Friday. If that goes well, he will be activated on Sunday.